A Ben-Kai Short Story Collection
by CaptainDan52
Summary: Self-explanatory
1. Halloween Drabble (Kissing BOO-th)

_Ben's POV_

. . . . .

Kai had a booth set up for a Halloween party, and she wanted me to stop by.

I tried my best not to be noticed as I looked for her.

All the booths were pretty ordinary, with people in costumes sitting behind them.

There were booths for bobbing apples, carving pumpkins, fortune-telling, and kissing.

_Wait, what?_

I stopped right in my tracks.

Apparently, someone painted a booth completely white and wrote on it:

**Kissing BOO-th**

"Why is there a kissing booth at a Halloween party?" I thought to myself.

I noticed that the booth also had a set of curtains and a little pull switch.

Maybe the pull switch'll open the curtains and some girl in a slutty witch costume would jump out and kiss me.

So I pulled it.

But the curtains didn't open.

Instead, something above the booth fell down in front of it:

A _hideous_ giant head with puckered lips.

I fell backwards, screaming at the top of my lungs.

As I was catching my breath, Kai walked out from behind the booth.

"What the hell is that?!"

"You like it?" she jested.

I chuckled sarcastically as she helped me back up.

"It's a papier-mâché head I made for the booth. I call it, 'Amanda'."

The head slowly rose back up to its starting position, which Kai said she had done thanks to the computer she had behind the curtains.

"I put together this system that runs automatically so I don't have to constantly adjust everything. The head resets by itself, the camera goes off by itself, etc."

"Camera?"

"Oh yeah. There's a camera in its mouth that takes pictures of people's reactions."

To prove her point, Kai pulled up an image of my reaction.

She showed me how she could get the photos wirelessly, by means of the computer she was operating behind the curtains.

I admit that it would've been a lot funnier seeing anyone else's reaction, but her Wizard of Oz kissing booth definitely did its job.

. . . . .

We sat behind the curtains and talked while people came by the booth and left us with hilarious, schadenfreude-inducing photos.

"I didn't think you celebrated Halloween."

"I do," she told me, "just not with the family. What about you?"

"Eh," I shrugged. "Not anymore."

"Really? I imagined that you would look forward to it, since you have your own built-in costumes."

While that's definitely true, that also would've been unfair to other trick-or-treaters.

I explained, "You know when there's a TV show you loved as a kid, but then you grow older and looking back on it somehow feels weird? That's kind of what Halloween is to me. Sure, I loved trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins once upon a time. But that's the kind of thing people outgrow, like baby clothes or a fear of cooties."

Kai didn't respond; she just sat up in her chair and kept making eye contact with me.

"Besides," I continued, "I'm probably old enough to start giving out candy instead of trick-or-treating for it, anyway."

She still sat quietly.

"What?" I asked. "Does that bother you?"

"Nope, just as long as you're not celebrating Columbus Day."

She was joking, of course, and she assured me with a kiss.

For a moment, I loved Halloween again

. . . if only for the fact that I didn't get stuck with "Amanda."


	2. You Can't Hyde

"Ben Tennyson reading a book?!" Kai asked in a mocking tone of voice as she walked up to the couch where I was sitting.

"My God, the end times must be upon us!"

I rolled my eyes and turned a page.

In her defense, it wasn't that often for me to willingly read a book.

But Kai, ever the comedian, treated it like someone gave me the best insult in history.

"What book is that, anyway?" she went on. "'How To Read Without Really Trying'? 'Sylvia Plath's Guide To A Happier Life'?"_  
_

Her joking subsided as quickly as the expression on her face changed when she discovered the title.

Elaborately carved across the book's plain blue cover were golden letters that spelled out:

_The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_

She looked at me with a suspicious eyebrow raised, like I was keeping a secret from her.

"You're trying to look for those clues, aren't you?"

"No," I told her, "but _now_ I'm thinking about it."

I actually _was_ looking for those clues, but I wasn't gonna tell her that.

"Don't waste your time; I'm already the rightful heir."

As Kai had been boasting since we met in London, she somehow got the Excalibur to budge when she grabbed it.

Even though she was quick to use her bragging rights, she agreed with the rest of us that we couldn't figure out how a teenage Navajo girl would be a potential British monarch.

I'm sticking with the "pickle jar lid" theory that the combined efforts of Chadwick's Hyde form, Humungousaur and all that water loosened the sword from the stone just enough that she could get it to move on her own.

She thinks that theory misjudges her, which it does; but overall, I wasn't bothered that much.

"Whatever," I shrugged. "_I'm_ already the savior of the universe. And, unlike you, I still have something to show for it."

I held up my left arm to prove my point.

She stepped back, with a "sore loser" kind of expression on her face.

"You win this round," she pouted before heading into another room.

My eyes followed her figure - mainly the back of it - as she walked off.

I couldn't help the smirk that was starting to grow on my face.

"Yep," I proudly declared to myself as I went back to reading.

"I definitely won, alright."


	3. Belonging

_Kai's POV _(Takes place after "Fight at the Museum")

_. . . . ._

_All work and no play never made me lose it._

"Who are you kidding, Ella?"

I sat in a gloom on the museum's front steps, listening to the music on my iPod get me to focus my thoughts on anything other than the orb, or what those guys wanted with the orb in the first place, or how it is that I seem to keep losing important things.

"Why didn't I ask Gwen for help?"

A shadow suddenly appeared next to me, gradually growing taller until it knelt down behind me.

Tapping me on the shoulder was the person controlling the shadow: Ben.

I didn't want to hear anything from him; that orb meant a lot more to me than he pretends to know.

Even when he pulled the earbud out of my left ear, I didn't bother to pause what I had playing at the moment.

"I have something for you," he said.

"Leave me alone," I shooed his hand away and put my earbud back in. "I don't want any of your stupid snacks right now."

I assumed he was gonna give me a bag of those cheese things to drown my sorrows in junk food.

"Alright, Indy," he relented.

"Let me know when you change your mind."

He sealed his suggestion by holding out his other hand for me to see before quickly taking it back and walking off.

It was the orb.

At first, I could barely believe it.

But any skepticism was immediately overridden by the ecstatic glee that drove me to pause my iPod, catch up to Ben and hug him.

As we were on our way to put the orb back in its case, I asked Ben how he was able to find it.

He told me how Spanner found the orb after the thieves apparently forgot it, how Spanner had returned it to her future self, and how he spent a lot of energy persuading Spanner to give it back.

"Hold on," I added, "if Spanner's from the future, and he knew the robbery was going to happen, why didn't he warn us? Why would he make me wait 10 years to get the orb back instead of just giving it to me? And what did those guys want with the orb, anyway?"

Ben shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. It would've been easier talking to him about it if he didn't intentionally leave me in that room with you, or if he wasn't still blabbering about how we were 'destined to be together'."

"In his defense, being forcefully trapped in a room with me makes the best metaphor for the love life he thinks we have."

He chuckled, "Good one."

It was, but let's see if he can get Ester to laugh about the whole thing.

Considering their failed attempt at a date, I just know she's gonna have a _LONG_ talk with him.


	4. Halloween Drabble II

When I visited Ben at his house on Halloween, I discovered one of the reasons behind his lack of excitement for the holiday:

His mom.

She's apparently one of those moms who gives out pretzels and raisins and stuff like that.

I offered to take over for her this year and spare the house of potentially disgruntled trick-or-treaters, but she declined.

"Don't take it personally," Ben's father told me.

"Think about it this way. She gives out health food, she cleans up the eggs and toilet paper afterwards."

He chuckled briefly, then he walked into the kitchen, and I sat on the living room sofa next to Ben.

We both wore somber expressions like the masks of the trick-or-treaters outside.

I wore mine because I was still getting over the museum incident.

Even though I was starting to feel a little better, it was still damn near impossible to get as excited about Halloween as I was earlier this month.

Ben's expression, however, had some guilt added to it, possibly because Ester was giving him the cold shoulder out of disappointment over their attempted date.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Eh," he shrugged.

"Gee, and I thought you had girl trouble _before_."

Ben turned and glared at me silently, clearly unamused by my little game of "Stop Hitting Yourself."

_Why are you mocking me like this?_, his new mask appeared to say.

A small part of me was starting to feel sorry for him, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why.

Ben's one of those people who, no matter how much of a jerk he might be, you can't help but pity.

Having said that, I probably should've thought as hard about getting serious with Ben as I currently do about the names of football teams.

He's a nice guy and all, but considering, among _many _others, Ester, Looma, his ex-girlfriend, Gwen's clone and that nanochip girl, I can't help but think we reconnected at the worst possible time.

"Let's be honest," I added.

"You don't have girl trouble until you meet that one girl who everyone thinks you're dating, no matter how much you deny it."

Ben nodded, "True."

He then asked, "What do you think I should do about Ester?"

"Do you really wanna ask _me_, Mr. 'Leap First, Look Second'?"

"Right, sorry."

"I don't care what you end up doing, but keep in mind, you're not Daniel Craig and we're not Bond girls."

Ben's mask changed once again to a smirk, like the smirk he usually wears when he's joking around.

"Maybe so," he remarked, "but have you seen 'Cowboys and Aliens'? He clearly wants my_ -"_

Just then, someone outside threw an egg at the living room window.

Mr. Tennyson rushed over to see what happened.

"Oh," he sighed before turning back around. "At least the window didn't break."

When he left the room, I told Ben, "Alright, how about this? Think of trick-or-treaters as girls you're trying to score. If you're not willing to offer them your absolute best . . ."

I gestured towards the window.

"Gotcha," he said. "They'll throw eggs at me."

I shook my head with a grin, picturing Ben with literal egg on his face.

It would _totally_ suit him.


	5. Stick Your Two Saints In

_3rd Person POV _(Takes place after "Secret of Dos Santos")

. . . . .

"You're back? How was Mexico?"

Kevin asked, not looking up from whatever he was doing with his car.

"Fine, I guess," Ben shrugged. "Though I can't help but think I should've paid more attention in Spanish class."

"Qué triste."

"Huh?"

"Just something I learned from some Hispanic guys I met during my black market days."

Ben blew Kevin off in both jest and jealousy, then paced towards the wall and leaned against it.

"That Skurd guy is awfully quiet."

"Hey!" the aforementioned creature shouted.

"My bad. You were saying, Ben?"

"So, Paradox showed up."

"Uh-huh."

"They lost an important artifact," Skurd interjected, "again."

"Sorry to hear that," Kevin still didn't look up from his car. "What else?"

"I can't remember the name, but there was this movie with a guy holding a bag of sand, and another guy behind h-"

"Raiders of the Lost Ark," Kevin answered. "What about it?"

Skurd asked Ben in a hushed voice, "Should I tell him?"

"Tell me what?"

Ben was understandably reluctant to "kiss and tell," which is why Skurd was so eager to let Kevin know.

He sighed, "I, uh, got to first base with Kai."

Kevin looked up at Ben from whatever he was doing with his car and stared in relative disbelief.

"For real?"

Ben nodded, with no clear sign of emotion on his face.

Kevin chuckled, "And I thought _my _relationship was weird. Didn't that Spanner dude say something about you guys getting married?"

"Kai thinks he's out of his mind."

"So, she says that she'll never get into anything serious with you, and yet she kissed you?"

"People are weird like that, aren't they?" Skurd remarked.

Kevin closed the hood of his car and looked at Ben with a smirk on his mouth.

"You guys are totally gonna hook up."

"What?!" Ben hoped Kevin was teasing.

"Remember when I first introduced myself to Gwen's dad, and then he turned to her and asked, 'Who's this? Your boyfriend?'"

"Yeah, and you guys w-"

A lightbulb went off in Ben's head.

"I'm screwed, aren't I?"

"I didn't say that was a bad thing. Matter of fact, the way I see it, she's a lot more stable than Elena or Jennifer."

"_Right_," Skurd remarked, his tone of voice emanating skepticism. "She's _totally _stable."

"Can't be any worse than Gwen."

"So, am I supposed to say something to Kai or what?"

"Aside from learning to speak better Spanish and keep better track of important things," admitted Kevin, "I don't care what you do."

One thing's for sure, Ben thought to himself . . .

Whatever I do, it'll be in Japan.

. . . . .

**A/N: If this chapter seems shoddily written, then you'll understand how I'm starting to feel about how the Omniverse writers are handling Kai.**


	6. Snow Globe

I was going to New Mexico for Christmas and New Year's, so I wouldn't be in Bellwood for his birthday.

When I told Ben, he handed me a small red box, told me not to open it until I was on the plane, and then wished me "Happy Holidays" before kissing me goodbye and heading off.

This confused me a lot more than I thought it would.

Christmas and New Year's are right around the corner.

Not to mention, Ben's birthday is also coming up soon.

_Shouldn't I be giving him a present instead of the other way around?_

As soon as the passengers were allowed to take out their electronics, I opened the box.

There was a snow globe in it.

_A snow globe? Where did he get the idea for this? The last episode of St. Elsewhere?_

The inside of the snow globe was very intricately designed.

Aside from the snow, there was a lake that had frozen over. On and around the lake were a couple of figurines playing in the snow and ice skating. Among the figurines ice skating were a boy and a girl. The boy looked like he was struggling not to fall over and holding on to the girl for dear life.

Interestingly, the couple looked like me and Ben.

Clearly he was making light of the time I took him ice skating, which looked exactly like what was happening in the snow globe.

I looked back in the box in case the snow globe came with a Christmas card or a letter or something.

Sure enough, there was a sheet of paper in the box, which I unfolded.

It was a handwritten letter.

At least I think it was a letter; I couldn't tell from the handwriting.

Anyway, the letter read:

**_Kai,_**

**_I'm not one to wax poetic on anything, so I'll try to keep this brief._**

**_You probably remember as well as I do about that summer 7 years ago._**

**_It's just hard to wrap my head around how much time that is, especially when I still remember it so clearly._**

**_You were doing some ceremonial dance, and we were on the side watching._**

**_Back then, I felt captivated._**

**_7 years later, I'm even more captivated._**

**_We might get on each other's nerves only to get back together and act like nothing happened, but if it works for Kevin and Gwen, it just might be crazy enough to work for us._**

**_Keep in touch, and have a good holiday season._**

**_Ben_**

I had to smile, thinking back to the part where he says I captivate him.

Looking back at the couple ice skating in the snow globe, I ask myself...

_How does he manage to captivate me?_


	7. Game Show-vinism

_Ben's POV (Takes place after "The Most Dangerous Game Show")_

_. . . . ._

I felt bad for Kai and Ester after the game show.

Although, Ester stopped putting up with me, so she's probably over it by now.

Kai, on the other hand, won the game show, which would normally be a good thing.

But she keeps making the point that the game show was, to put it mildly, stupid.

She argued that the usual deal of having men compete for women wasn't nearly as bad as the game show, which she described as "a demeaning beauty pageant pitched as a sexist game show" (as if she didn't already make that point clear enough by calling herself a "damsel in distress").

But it wasn't like we were debating and I had an opposing view; I agreed with her on all points.

Her evidence went as follows:

* The winner would become a literal trophy wife.  
* None of the women were asked in advance for their consent.  
* The women had to win the first round by not talking, which reinforced a notion of women being quiet and submissive towards men.  
* In the second round, the women had to fit through holes in moving walls like they were posing in an extreme version of a beauty pageant's swimsuit portion (which might explain why the area looked a lot like a swimming pool).  
* For the Slamworm round, it apparently wasn't an option for the women to protect themselves without a man's assistance (she's really into that sort of thing).

Then she suggested a less objectionable game show where the winner would be the person who did the best job of picking on me.

And that's where she lost my support.


	8. Looking Forward

_3rd Person POV_

_. . . . ._

"Ben?"

A bunch of cardboard boxes seemed to have appeared overnight in front of the doors to everyone's dressing rooms.

Incidentally, this was after the show's finale, when everyone was packing up their memories from the last couple of years.

No one was looking forward to saying goodbye to the better part of a decade's worth of memories.

Even though the names on the doors had already been removed, it was ridiculously easy to find the dressing room of the anti-OCD Ben based on the lazily-organized boxes outside of it.

Kai had to move around the boxes on tiptoes to get to the door, like they were booby traps.

"Earth to Ben? Any intelligent life in there?"

"Come in."

His voice seemed noticeably (and unusually) quiet and restrained.

Modestly, Kai opened the door and leaned against the frame.

Ben was sitting on a chair in the middle of an otherwise empty room; he had in his hands the original Omnitrix, which he examined fondly.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

He didn't answer immediately, but instead kept looking at the Omnitrix.

"You know, it's kind of incredible how this all started with me and this thing right here."

The show's ending was understandably bittersweet for Ben, considering that this show had taken up so much of his life (which was aptly demonstrated by Kevin and Gwen's then-recent engagement).

"That's time for you," Kai admitted. "So how are you gonna spend your time now?"

Ben looked up at her.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe look back on my life so far, contemplate what I might need to change in the future, stuff like that."

Just then, Rook appeared behind Kai.

"Excuse me," he said. "I hate to interrupt, Ms. Green, but could you please help me put away some of my weapons?"

Kai told him he would, but Ben had stood up and caught up to her before she could leave just yet.

"Wait," Ben interjected, "I didn't get to ask you: how are you gonna spend your time now?"

She winked at him and replied, "I'll tell you at 8."

Date night.

Of course.

"I'm already looking forward to it."


End file.
